Do Maui Fire Lawyers Offer Guidance on Disaster
Amid the incongruous scene of tourists frolicking on Maui’s beaches while search and rescue crews trawl through the wreckage of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, the state attorney’s office is investigating how the tragedy was allowed to unfold. The investigation, announced Thursday, will look into the government’s preparation for the fire and actions taken during its progression and response.
It’s a massive undertaking and one that should help Maui fire lawyers identify where the failures occurred and how to avoid them in the future. But the complexity of disaster response, combined with the challenges of operating on an island thousands of miles from the continental US, will make it difficult to understand where things went wrong. Vox spoke with Joshua Stanbro, who served as the city and county of Honolulu’s chief resilience officer from 2017 to 2021 and helped create its first Resilience Strategy and Climate Action Plan. He is now a policy lead at Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit investor in climate technologies.
“It’s going to be a long process of unpacking what really happened,” Stanbro tells Vox. The fire was fueled by extreme weather conditions, including hurricane-force winds with no precipitation. That pushed the flames into populated areas and accelerated their growth.
Do Maui Fire Lawyers Offer Guidance on Disaster Preparedness For Future Warriors?
The investigation will also look into whether local agencies, such as the county’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA), took appropriate steps to prevent the fire from spreading as quickly as it did. The state’s attorney general, Anne Lopez, said in a statement that her office will hire an independent organization to conduct the review. She added that officials intend to “look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective actions and advance future emergency preparedness.”
Many residents say they were not notified early enough to evacuate. Avery Dagupion, whose family’s home was destroyed, said Bissen’s announcement that the fire was contained lulled residents into a false sense of security. “We feel like we’ve been lied to,” he told reporters.
Another complaint involves a lack of coordination between federal and local agencies. Many residents report feeling disengaged by officials who did not communicate well with them or share information about the fire’s progress. Others have reported difficulties accessing resources and finding housing.
Other residents are suing Hawaiian Electric for its role in the fire. According to a class-action lawsuit filed against the utility company and other responsible parties, MECO did not shut off power in the wake of Hurricane Dora when its sensors indicated that high winds were creating a danger of downed lines sparking wildfires. The company’s decision not to turn off the power is a breach of its contract with the county. It is alleged that the breach caused the fires in Lahaina and Makawao to spread and cause more damage. This is a very complicated case that could take months to resolve. In the meantime, residents who need to relocate can go to eight shelters for food, water, supplies and FEMA survivor assistance.